| Monday | ||||
Morgan Stanley analyst… Morgan Stanley analyst Omar Sheikh downgraded WPP to Underweight from Equal Weight with a price target of 850 GBp, down from 950 GBp. The analyst sees early indications that economic pressures in Europe are reducing some advertising budgets. The deceleration in global GDP growth is likely to be similar to after dotcom bubble burst, when organic growth for WPP and Publicis fell by 20 percentage points and multiples compressed by 70%, Sheikh tells investors in a research note. The analyst anticipates quarterly organic growth for both companies will turn negative in the second half of 2022 or early 2023. | ||||
| Over a week ago | ||||
WPP and Epic Games, the… WPP and Epic Games, the interactive entertainment company and developer of Fortnite and Unreal Engine, announced a new partnership to help WPP agencies deliver a new era of digital experiences for brands in the metaverse. The partnership will include a new training program to upskill thousands of WPP creatives and technologists on how to create custom brand experiences in Fortnite, and how to use Unreal Engine for real-time 3D creation and virtual production. This new metaverse curriculum will consist of three separate tracks for executives, creative practitioners, and media experts and strategists. Early to invest in the tools and talent needed to succeed in the metaverse, WPP believes that brands and creators have a tremendous opportunity to meet the need for connection and unlock unlimited creative potential within interactive virtual spaces. For brands embarking on this journey, success in the metaverse is dependent not only on creative excellence but deep production capabilities, sound strategies for amplifying digital experiences and expert knowledge of a complex online safety and privacy landscape. As a part of this partnership, WPP teams will work closely with experts at Epic to learn how to build next-generation interactive experiences leveraging Unreal Engine, an advanced real-time 3D creation tool used across a range of industries including games, film, architecture, fashion, automotive, music and live events. WPP teams will be able to take advantage of training and tools to create new experiences in Fortnite, where creators can build imaginative worlds for brands inside of one of the most globally popular online games. WPP has previously collaborated with SuperAwesome, an Epic Games company, to produce innovative work such as the immersive Island built for Adidas in Fortnite for its Ozweego sneaker line. WPP will also work with SuperAwesome to deepen its understanding of online safety and privacy to help its campaigns engage younger audiences safely. | ||||
Berenberg analyst Sarah… Berenberg analyst Sarah Simon raised the firm's price target on WPP to 1,230 GBp from 1,185 GBp and keeps a Hold rating on the shares. | ||||
Credit Suisse analyst… Credit Suisse analyst Matthew Walker raised the firm's price target on WPP to 1,210 GBp from 1,200 GBp and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. | ||||
JPMorgan analyst Daniel… JPMorgan analyst Daniel Kerven raised the firm's price target on WPP to 1,330 GBp from 1,280 GBp and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. | ||||
$1.8B in net new business… $1.8B in net new business won, including Mars, JDE Peet's, Sky; Launch of Everymile, our commerce-as-a-service proposition; acquisition of Village Marketing; merger of Mediacom and Essence, and creation of GroupM Nexus. GBP 362 million of share buybacks in Q1. 2022 guidance raised: LFL revenue less pass-through costs growth now expected to be 5.5-6.5%, up from around 5% "The year has started very well with continued momentum from 2021 resulting in strong growth across all businesses and regions. Demand is strong for our services, particularly in digital media, ecommerce, data and marketing technology. "The war in Ukraine has created an appalling humanitarian crisis. We continue to support our people in Ukraine, many of whom are now displaced, with financial and practical assistance. Our partnership with the UNHCR on their emergency fundraising appeal has generated $150 million to date, including over $1.3 million from our employee match-funding programme. On 4 March, we announced that we would exit the Russian market, and we have now reached agreement to divest our businesses there. | |
WPP announced the… WPP announced the appointment of Kyoko Matsushita as CEO in Japan. In this new role, Kyoko will be responsible for WPP's business in Japan, strengthening its collective capabilities and bringing together people and resources on behalf of clients. Kyoko is currently CEO for Essence Global, WPP's global data and measurement-driven full-service media agency. |
| Over a month ago | ||||
Goldman Sachs analyst… Goldman Sachs analyst Lisa Yang downgraded WPP to Neutral from Buy with a price target of 1,235 GBp, down from 1,450 GBp. The analyst cites the more limited upside compared to other names in her coverage and the greater macro uncertainty, which may affect the outlook for advertising spend later in the year. | ||||
JPMorgan analyst Daniel… JPMorgan analyst Daniel Kerven raised the firm's price target on WPP to 1,280 GBp from 1,270 GBp and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. | ||||
JPMorgan analyst Daniel… JPMorgan analyst Daniel Kerven lowered the firm's price target on WPP to 1,270 GBp from 1,320 GBp and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. | ||||
